Five Stars of the Week: Suggs Shines Again While Pair of Big Ten Teams Impress

Who stood out in men's college basketball this week?

In a weekend that saw college football teams punch their tickets to the College Football Playoff, college basketball teams hit the road trying to build résumés for March. It was a wild week for the men’s sport, one that featured a highly publicized showdown between No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 3 Iowa and several other high-profile games. Here’s a look at who shined the most:

Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga

Is Suggs the most talented player Mark Few has ever had in Spokane? The Bulldogs have had so many accomplished players come through their ranks, but Suggs’s first four games for the Zags have showcased his unbelievable upside. The five-star recruit from Minnesota dominated in Saturday’s win over Iowa, drilling seven threes en route to a 27-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance in a 99–88 victory over the third-ranked Hawkeyes in Sioux Falls, S.D. What makes his performance more impressive is that the Bulldogs were coming off a lengthy shutdown due to COVID-19 protocols—Gonzaga hadn’t played since Dec. 2 against West Virginia. The team was so rusty that Few joked postgame that during practice this week his staff needed to wear catcher’s masks because “the balls were flying around all over the place.”

With two huge games against elite teams in Kansas and Iowa to start his college career, Suggs has begun to make his case to be the top pick in next year’s NBA draft. Scouts knew he was an elite athlete coming into the year, but his shooting and playmaking ability have both popped so far this season. If he continues to drain threes like he did against Iowa, he’ll almost certainly push Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham for the top spot on NBA teams’ draft boards.

David Banks, Kim Klement, David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports

Northwestern

The last time Northwestern beat a top-five team, Magic Johnson was the opposing team’s point guard.

The Wildcats knocked off No. 4 Michigan State on Sunday night in Evanston in one of the biggest victories of the Chris Collins era, behind 30 points from sophomore guard Boo Buie. The Cats sprinted out to a 13-point halftime lead and never led by fewer than 10 in the second half, even threatening to run the Spartans out of the gym with a 21-point edge midway through the period. That’s quite the win to open Big Ten play for Northwestern, particularly considering they have gone 7–33 in the conference over the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was less than thrilled with his team’s effort, calling it “one of the more inept performances of my 26 years.” His team’s two leading scorers coming into the game, Joey Hauser and Rocket Watts, were held to just five points each, and the Spartan defense allowed Northwestern to shoot a blistering 57% from the field in the game. It was MSU’s first loss of the season.

The Atlantic 10

The A-10 made quite the splash in the season’s first week with Richmond’s win over Kentucky and Saint Louis’s knocking off LSU. This week was similarly excellent for what is perhaps the nation’s best mid-major league. The Spiders bounced back from a disappointing loss at West Virginia with a road win at Vanderbilt before beating a high-level mid-major in Loyola-Chicago on a neutral court on Friday. Although Richmond’s road win at Kentucky hasn’t aged as well as Chris Mooney might have hoped, the Spiders should now be positioned well for an at-large bid come March, assuming they take care of business in conference play.

Meanwhile, Dayton earned its second win over an SEC foe this season by knocking off Ole Miss at UD Arena. The Flyers’ backcourt trio of Jalen Crutcher, Ibi Watson and Rodney Chatman combined for 55 of Dayton’s 65 points and will be a tough matchup for anyone in college basketball. And, speaking of star power, UMass sophomore Tre Mitchell made his case as the nation’s best mid-major player by dropping 37 points at La Salle on Wednesday.

While Saint Louis couldn’t complete a perfect 3–0 week Sunday with a loss at Minnesota, the Billikens continue to impress and for my money are the conference’s best team. They struggled to shoot the ball Sunday against the Golden Gophers, but entered the game shooting 44.6% from downtown and have really improved on the offensive end. Senior guard Jordan Goodwin is a double-double machine, sophomore PG Yuri Collins has raised his game and sophomore sharpshooter Gibson Jimerson has kept defenses honest. The Billikens were very impressive in a win over NC State on Thursday, and they also own that early-season victory against LSU.

James Bouknight, UConn

UConn officially made its return to the Big East on Sunday with a showdown against a highly ranked Creighton team. And while the Huskies lost the game in overtime, talented sophomore guard James Bouknight showed why he’s one of the most dynamic players in the country with a 40-point outburst to nearly will his team to victory. Known for his elite athleticism and highlight-reel dunks, Bouknight has expanded his all-around game and could be an interesting potential draft prospect come the summer. He scored 13 points in the first six minutes of the second half to give the Huskies the lead and flashed his improved range from beyond the arc with five made threes.

While the 76–74 loss for the Huskies represents a missed opportunity for a marquee win early in conference play, Bouknight’s proving himself as an All-America-caliber player is a great sign moving forward. Now, Dan Hurley’s club needs to find a way to finish games after R.J. Cole's missed free throws late in regulation allowed Creighton to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Rutgers

The hallmark of Steve Pikiell’s teams since he arrived in Piscataway has been an elite defense, but the Scarlet Knights showed this week that they can keep up with anyone in college basketball. Rutgers torched Illinois for 91 points, including 54 in the second half, to keep its unblemished record intact and earn a win that could go a long way toward the Scarlet Knights’ competing for a Big Ten title. It’s the first time in the Pikiell era that the program has won a game in which it gave up more than 75 points. It was previously 0–27 under Pikiell in those games.

The growth of Ron Harper Jr. into a star has been one of the biggest reasons for Rutgers’s newfound offensive firepower. Harper has blossomed into one of the best pure scorers in college basketball, averaging 24 points per game on the young season. In three high-major games against Illinois, Maryland and Syracuse, Harper has posted 28, 27 and 26 points, respectively, and drained five threes in each game. Senior point guard Jacob Young also matched a season high with 24 points against the Illini.